Osama al Zain's "Palestine Post 9/11"
Here's a link to an article on a documentary I hadn't heard of til now... I should say that while I am not convinced the "Palestinians celebrating 9/11" shots are genuine, the fact is that even if they WERE genuine what is most disturbing is not that a small minority of an oppressed people might have seen the attacks as a strike on behalf of their plight and been happy, but that Palestinians were chosen to be the face of "arabs celebrating 9/11" and that the footage was replayed incessantly in some quarters.
quote:
“It was the 20-second news clip that showed [a] few Palestinians dancing in the street in Jerusalem that drove me to produce Palestine Post 9/11 as the US corporate media ran the byte again and again. Over a very short period of time, these scenes became an iconic image portrayed to create a false link, or rather equivalence, between the Palestinian struggle for independence and Al Qaeda’s ideology and actions,” points out Al Zain....
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_3735.shtml
If anyone can find out how to get a copy or view al Zain's film that would be great--I've had no luck so far...
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a short snippet about PP911
http://www.mywire.com/a/Cineaste/hazards-occupation-documentaries-about/...
One of the points PPPL makes is one that Osama Al-Zain also feels very strongly about. In his documentary Palestine Post-911, Al-Zain suggests that 9/11 has been as much as disaster for the Palestinians as it has for the Americans, setting back Palestinian hopes almost fifty years. Osama Bin Laden claimed to support the Palestinians, a support many Palestinians viewed as opportunist and a little late in coming. On the other hand, Israel exploited the U.S. "War on Terrorism," equating resistance to occupation to terrorism, thus conflating its need to tighten the screws on the occupied territories with the U.S. interest in combating terrorism around the world. As Al-Zain explores the post-9/11 landscape of Palestine, he interviews specialists such as Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch and Dr. Fouad Moughrabi, head of the Political Science Department at the University of Tennessee, to gain an insight into what the American evangelical religious right sees as a common experience: terror attacks waged on "our soil."
Although Al-Zain encounters the same problems common to many documentaries on Palestinian issues, especially relating the historical background to the current situation in the occupied territories, he brings an unexpected perspective to the post-9/11 discussion--examining how it has affected the Palestinians, in whose name Bin Laden justified some of his policies, and against whom the evangelical Christian right has aligned itself with Israel in the name of its own notions of biblical prophecy.
To help viewers gain a clearer view of what daily life is like in the occupied territories, Al-Zain joins Stanley Cohen, a New York-based lawyer who frequently travels to Israel. As Cohen passes through checkpoints, and has to negotiate for his Palestinian cameraman to make it through, his frustration and disgust at the situation grows. Cohen is not just any Jewish lawyer, it turns out. A member of the Center for Constitutional Rights, he has been described as "unorthodox" (The Washington Post) and worse by those less admiring of his defense of the Chicago Seven, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority. Cohen is outspoken, brash, and riveting. As he explores the sites of the growing separation wall that snakes through Palestinian territory, establishing buffer zones for Israeli settlements, Cohen grows almost apoplectic as he surveys the orchards uprooted by Israeli bulldozers. In one of his most memorable moments, Cohen stands at a checkpoint, smiling ruefully. "They have to be nice to me," he says. "Those are my guns and my bullets. I paid for them."
I think this is him on FB
http://www.facebook.com/people/Osama-Al-zain/1054791179
I haven't found the film anywhere yet, either.
found this link to the film's website
...on wikipedia:
http://www.focus-film.com/
released in 2005?
so where is it? ..keep us posted if you find! I definitely want to watch.
thanks G
sweet jeebus it ain't cheap!
http://cinemaguild.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TCGS&Product_Code=2153
PALESTINE POST 9/11
In the wake of the terrorist attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon, the world witnessed a number of Palestinians celebrating on the streets of Jerusalem.
Palestine Post 911 is an examination of the tragic events of 911 from a Palestinian perspective. Through following Stanley Cohen, a Jewish lawyer from Manhattan, on his journey to Palestine, the film examines the setback the Palestinian cause has suffered as a result of Al Qaeda’s actions and political rhetoric on one side and the US and Israeli policies on the other.
Produced and Directed By: Osama Al-Zain
2005, 73 mins
Purchase: $275 Rental: $85
“The film offers very strong comments regarding the issue expressed by its title. Recommended for college libraries as a tool to insight discussion and further research.” --EMRO
thanks but no thanks
yeah, not cheap is right! wtf? i'll check my college library. Harvard?
obtaining a more affordable copy of Palestine Post 9/11
Thank you for your interest in the film. Palestine Post 9/11 was released on DVD and video by The Cinema Guild Inc. You'll find the link to the film on CG's site, http://www.cinemaguild.com. You could search for it by title, director, or product code (Palestine Post 9/11's Code: 2153).
The purchase/rent prices posted on CG's web site are for institutional purchases that include public screening rights. However, if you are interested in getting a DVD-R copy for personal use, the purchase price is lower. To get a copy, please contact :
info@cinemaguild.com
800-723-5522
$29.95 plus $13 for S&H